Mayaot na mga batasan kuman ini mga batan-on! We often overhear
these words from adults and even from teachers who could not understand why
kids are doing things which are not aligned to the universal values. The discussion
reached to the level of legislators which prompted them to “revive” GMRC or
Good Manners and Right Conduct.
A bicameral conference
committee approved the consolidated version of the proposed Comprehensive
Values Education Act, which mandates that good manners and right conduct (GMRC)
be taught as a subject in elementary and high schools. Senators and congressmen
have consolidated provisions to strengthen the law on GMRC education for young
people who will be required to take a mandatory GMRC subject under the K-12
curriculum.
Under Senate Bill
(SB) 1224, values education, including GMRC, will be taught to elementary and
senior high school students for an hour daily. In the case of kindergarten
pupils, values education shall be integrated with their daily learning
activities (philstar.com).
Manners, according to
the Cambridge dictionary, are ways of behaving toward people, especially ways
that are socially correct and show respect for their comfort and their
feelings.
These, based on the
observations among the young, are almost eradicated in their system manifested
in the way they talk, move, dress up and deal with elders and the authority.
We seem to value
personal freedom above the collective good or the need to live in harmony
together. We should not be turned into a community that only cares about the
freedoms of the individual – especially when these freedoms are used to
disrespect others. Manners are ways of showing kindness and consideration. It
is not how we eat or speak; it is about sharing, cooperation and respect to
others. Politeness is not something that
our grandparents used to do to avoid the consequences of being "out of
line" (Weldeyesus, 2019).
Ergo, we cannot tolerate
that bad manners to thrive in our society since we all want to feel respected
and valued as individuals. This, and other factors, might be the thing to allow
us to complain about the younger generation’s show of indifference and their
passive way of looking at the things that need attention (like throwing of
trash anywhere).
But is it really the
main role of the schools to teach good manners to the young or is this task
part of the complex roles of parenting? This writer was trained how to eat
properly by a strict mother and how the father instructed to greet politely
every adult being encountered with courtesy! Placing their hands on the
foreheads is even practiced up to the present!
Pauline Lysaght
(2015) mentions that parents are typically a child’s first teachers. Initially,
their focus is on helping very young children to communicate and, with age, to
become increasingly independent, encouraging physical accomplishments such as
walking and catching a ball, holding a cup and using cutlery. Parents are also
instrumental in teaching a range of social skills, including taking turns,
greeting others and remembering to say “please” and “thank you”. Parents are
regarded as important role models in terms of the ensuing behavior of their
children.
However, the expertise
of teachers goes well beyond simply knowing which information to present to
students. Good teachers understand how to pace their teaching to match the
learning trajectory of their students and how to encourage their students to go
beyond their current capacity and to fulfill their potential.
This is where
teaching manners come in. Teachers understand how to plan for a content to be
taught and how these could be manifest through performance. Once the learners
understand and can perform the task related to the content, the mastery and
development of competencies are considered.
But the “catching”
or the mastery of manners must start at home, deepened in schools and the constant
follow-through must be done again at home.
In today’s
fast-paced, technology-driven society, teaching children manners is something
that is more crucial than ever. One of the most important jobs we have as
parents is to help our children develop social skills, show them how to
interact in a polite manner with people, and teach them to treat others with
respect (Lee, 2019).
But then again this
potent question can be asked: Who made the environment of these kids? Why are
they like that? We might as well revisit the selfish motives of the adults and
our own indifference towards the use of these gadgets. You see, some of us are
also coping up with this revolution. There are those who are glued on teleseryes about infidelity and are
trying to learn how to TikTok. We even eat holding our phones as if we might
miss something important.
There have been a
variety of studies done on the effects of a young person's behavior and the
influence of a "Very Important" non-parental adult (Beam, Chen, &
Greenberger, 2002). There have also been studies done on how youth see
significant people in their lives (Hendry, Roberts, Glendinning, & Colman,
1992). These studies support the important role of an adult in the life a young
person.
We are the
reflections of the young. We might as well revisit our own manners and right
conduct.